American States Water (NYSE:AWR) Downgraded to Sell Rating by StockNews.com

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) was downgraded by research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

Separately, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded American States Water from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $80.00 to $87.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st.

American States Water Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of American States Water stock opened at $85.05 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.64, a P/E/G ratio of 4.47 and a beta of 0.49. American States Water has a 52-week low of $66.03 and a 52-week high of $87.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.69. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $83.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $79.34.

American States Water (NYSE:AWR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $0.95 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.98 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $161.78 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $161.00 million. American States Water had a net margin of 19.26% and a return on equity of 13.53%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.85 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that American States Water will post 3.02 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at American States Water

In other American States Water news, Director Anne M. Holloway sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.89, for a total transaction of $40,445.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 38,519 shares in the company, valued at $3,115,801.91. This trade represents a 1.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.82% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of American States Water

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its position in American States Water by 18.5% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 12,548 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $906,000 after acquiring an additional 1,960 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of American States Water by 2.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,760,524 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $343,900,000 after purchasing an additional 132,674 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its stake in shares of American States Water by 229.0% in the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 45,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,279,000 after buying an additional 31,593 shares during the period. Jacobi Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in American States Water by 12.0% during the 1st quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 10,483 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $757,000 after buying an additional 1,126 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its position in American States Water by 193.7% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,630 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $118,000 after buying an additional 1,075 shares during the period. 75.24% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About American States Water

American States Water Company, through its subsidiaries, provides water and electric services to residential, commercial, industrial, and other customers in the United States. It operates through three segments: Water, Electric, and Contracted Services. The company purchases, produces, distributes, and sells water, as well as distributes electricity.